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EPA Gives $1.34 Million in Brownfields Grants to Four Communities in Massachusetts

Release Date: 05/18/2000
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that four communities in Massachusetts will receive a total of $1.34 million in Brownfields assistance to help in the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated and abandoned sites around the state.

The funds will be going to North Adams, Gloucester, New Bedford and Brockton for the following projects:

• North Adams will use $140,000 to do environmental assessments at a former tannery, a former junk yard and a warehouse/service station property. The pilot Brownfields grant will also pay for education and outreach efforts to get citizens in the city involved in planning for the redevelopment.
• New Bedford, with assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, will use $500,000 to issue low-interest cleanup loans for 25 Brownfield sites that have been identified for potential cleanup and reuse.
• Brockton will use $200,000 to set up a Brownfields job training program that will involve training about 50 residents as environmental technicians who can work on site assessments, cleanup and other Brownfield activities. Students will be recruited from low income areas, which are home to many of the city's 100 identified Brownfield sites.
• Gloucester will use a $500,000 grant to set up a revolving loan fund to help pay for site cleanups targeting the city's downtown and waterfront areas. Potential cleanup sites include the Marine Railways site, the Linsky Junkyard, cape Ann Forge, the Gloucester Paint Factory and Omniwave Electronics site.

To date, Massachusetts communities have received a total of $17.7 million in EPA Brownfields funding since 1995.

"These grants will help jump start efforts in Massachusetts to clean up abandoned and contaminated sites so they can be put back to productive reuse," said Mindy S. Lubber, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "As a result, Bay State residents can look forward to a cleaner environment, new jobs and more tax revenues for the community."

"Congress, the Clinton administration and EPA are committed to revitalizing these polluted sites that once were given up for dead," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. "Neighborhoods and businesses across the country are proving that the best days of these brownfields are in the future, not in the past. These grants will enhance the impressive efforts bu Gloucester, New Bedford and North Adams to clean up their brownfields and turn them into new engines for job creation and economic growth."

"These grants provide tremendous capital resources to cities striving to address the most pressing issue facing many urban centers," said U.S. Sen. John Kerry. "Brownfields redevelopment is at the heart of the urban revitalization movement and these grants provide us with a strategic approach to identification and cleanup. I congratulate EPA on its commitment to the brownfields issue and look forward to working with New Bedford, Gloucester, North Adams and Brockton in the future on such development initiatives.

A total of $5.4 million in Brownfield grants were awarded today to 15 New England recipients. Other grants went to Providence and the State of Rhode Island; Westbrook and Lewiston in Maine; the Windham Regional Commission in Vermont; and New London, Berlin, Danbury, Naugatuck Valley and Middlesex Community College in Connecticut.